David Warner to skip Australia’s tour of Zimbabwe to be home for birth of first baby

DAVID Warner has revealed he will skip Australia’s one-day tour of Zimbabwe later this year so he can be with Candice Falzon as she gives birth to the couple’s first baby.

The last time an Australian pulled out of a tour of Zimbabwe was when leg-spinner Stuart MacGill refused to travel to the African nation in protest against the rule of President Robert Mugabe.

Warner’s reasoning is of an entirely different nature, with the opening batsman saying Cricket Australia suggested he miss the series — which will consist of one-day matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa, starting in late August — not only because of the imminent birth, but also due to concerns about burnout.

“We’re into the final couple of weeks of IPL 7 and I have to say, from a personal viewpoint, the batteries are slowly draining,” Warner wrote on the Cricket Australia website.

Warner has credited Falzon with being the driving force behind his superb run of form with the bat.Source:News Limited

“It’s been a long, long few months for me from the Ashes summer to South Africa and then Bangladesh and I’m looking forward to a break following the two-week training camp that will be waiting when I get back to Australia at the start of June.

“That’s why I’m grateful that Cricket Australia has suggested that I sit out the tri-series against South Africa and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe that is scheduled to start in late August.

“Candice and I have our baby coming in September, so it’s fantastic to be able to have that time off.”

Australia coach Darren Lehmann instilled a ‘family first’ mentality while he was in charge of Queensland, and made it clear he would bring that same approach to the national side.

David Warner is coming off a long run of cricket stretching back to last October.Source:AFP

Warner cited this as one of the main reasons why he felt comfortable with his decision to pass up the opportunity of playing for his country.

However, the 27-year-old revealed he and Falzon took Australia’s upcoming Test and one-day commitments into account when they were planning to have the baby.

“Candice and I discussed the timing of a baby so with some planning and a bit of good luck the birth wasn’t going to coincide with a Test series or the World Cup,” Warner said. “And while the Zimbabwe tour was being talked about, we didn’t know the exact dates that it was going ahead.”

Warner’s teammate Shane Watson missed the fourth Test of Australia’s disastrous tour of India last year in order to be with wife Lee for the birth of their first child, while Ricky Ponting drew some criticism for flying home from a Test tour of Sri Lanka in 2011 to attend the birth of his second child.